Preparation and properties of reduced bismuth and antimony molybdenum oxides

From molybdenum trioxide-rich, low-melting eutectics formed in the MoO 3-Bi 2O 3 and MoO 3-Sb 2O 3 systems, large crystals of two new reduced bismuth molybdenum oxides and one antimony molybdenum oxide have been grown by the electrolytic reduction of molten salts. These phases are purple with high reflectivity, and show semiconducting behavior. All are orthorhombic with the same systematic absences (corresponding to space groups P mma or P mc2 1 ). Empirical formulas of these new oxides have the form M′ x Mo 2O 5, with x = 0.22 or 0.27 dependent on growth conditions for the bismuth-containing compounds and with x = 0.47 for the anitmony-containing phase.